University of California

February 2, 2018 | Conservative groups have done their best to corner the market on tax messaging based on pure volume and size of expenditures, but liberal groups too have asserted themselves since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act’s enactment last year.

November 6, 2017 | Democrat Kathie Allen slightly outraised and outspent her Republican opponent in Utah’s special election for the congressional seat vacated by Jason Chaffetz. Allen raised and spent more than $800,000 for Utah’s 3rd Congressional District seat, a reliably conservative district that last chose a Democrat in 1994. Her opponent, Republican John Curtis, raised about $740,000 and…

August 8, 2017 | With the end of summer fast approaching comes another year of rising college tuition costs and looming student loans. College tuition has increased over the past several decades, but in the last 10 years the average cost of tuition for four-year public colleges and universities has grown at a lower rate than previous decades. Still, the…

May 25, 2017 | Even with the 2018 midterm elections still 18 months away, both Republicans and Democrats are making moves to strengthen their most vulnerable incumbents. One way they’re doing it: By contributing through their candidate committees and leadership PACs. Already, more than $3 million changed hands this way in the first three months of 2017 — nearly…

March 29, 2017 | The House’s vote Tuesday approving a resolution that would allow internet service providers to sell data about their customers’ browsing history split nearly along party lines. The final vote was 215-205, with nine members not voting. The Democrats voted against the resolution as a block. On the Republican side, 15 members split from their party…

March 16, 2017 | After being locked out of the NCAA tournament for its entire 78-year history, Northwestern University‘s basketball team has finally made the cut. And while students at the private Evanston, Illinois university are celebrating having reached this landmark, Northwestern has already won another championship: According to our tally of lobbying dollars spent in 2016 — our…

December 8, 2016 | Should we restrict political contributions? How have weakened political parties impacted this election? Can public financing work? President-elect Donald Trump pledged to “drain the swamp,” yet has not proposed changes to the campaign finance system. So experts in the field with various viewpoints ran through scenarios at a forum organized by New York University and law firm Sidley Austin on…

December 6, 2016 | With the spectacle of the post-election presidential transition taking center stage, it’s easy to forget there’s still a U.S. Senate race pending. Under the Bayou State’s unique system, all 24 Senate candidates appeared on the Nov. 8 general election ballot. None received a majority, so on Saturday the top two vote-getters will face off: Republican…

November 18, 2016 | Nov. 29 update: President-elect Donald Trump named Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) as his pick for Secretary of Health and Human Services. Unsuccessful GOP presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson declared Tuesday that he has no interest in a position in the Trump cabinet and instead wants to serve the administration as an outside advisor because he…

October 28, 2016 | Washington thrives on speculation and now, after months of guessing at things like primary contenders and vice presidential picks, it’s time to draft potential cabinets. With no shortage of well-educated guesses on who might lead the various executive departments, certain names crop up more often than others, often officials and bureaucrats with substantial political and policy…

October 25, 2016 | Note: Please see our updated prediction of the cost of the 2016 election. Is 2016 the Year of the Billionaire when it comes to financing the election? There are plenty in the mix. And they’ve helped fuel what is turning out to be the most expensive election ever. The Center for Responsive Politics projects that candidates,…

October 19, 2016 | When the Republican-controlled Congress approved a landmark program in 2003 to help seniors buy prescription drugs, it slapped on an unusual restriction: The federal government was barred from negotiating cheaper prices for those medicines. Instead, the job of holding down costs was outsourced to the insurance companies delivering the subsidized new coverage, known as Medicare…

April 1, 2016 | Though it’s given $3.6 million to outside spending groups so far this cycle, the nation’s largest labor group has joined advocates of overhauling the campaign finance system who are explicitly angling to be the subjects of mass arrests on Capitol Hill this month if their demands to Congress aren’t met. The AFL-CIO is the only organization involved in the coalition, called…

March 15, 2016 | Already this NCAA men’s basketball season has proven to be one for the record books. We’ve had six different No. 1 ranked teams throughout the season. AP-ranked top 10 teams have lost a total of 74 times, the most since 1948, when the AP started conducting its poll. This is not to say that there…

March 7, 2016 | Last week, real estate mogul and current GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump tweeted to his 6.6 million Twitter followers about a “phony Rubio commercial” that was making hay out of Trump’s ongoing legal troubles with the now-defuct Trump University. Phony Rubio commercial. I could have settled, but won’t out of principle! See student surveys. https://t.co/KKHiBH554d —…

March 3, 2016 | To little fanfare, the super PAC founded by liberal climate change activist Tom Steyer has amassed $13 million of the California billionaire’s own money this election cycle — so far. That outpaces the $9.3 million Steyer gave his outside group, Next Gen Climate Action Committee, by this point in 2014. Very little of that money has gone toward directly…

October 22, 2015 | Lawyers are showing a lot of love for Hillary Clinton, while Wall Street is investing most heavily in Jeb Bush. Outside of retirees, a traditional and unsurprising donor base for most candidates, the 2016 presidential candidates looked to a variety of industries in their quest for campaign money from individuals in 2015’s third quarter, a Center…

September 18, 2015 | Thanks to the new college football playoff system, rankings this early in the season don’t mean a thing. But with the season in full swing and conference games kicking off across the country tomorrow, let’s do a meaningless ranking of our own: the AP Top 10, ranked by how much each team’s hometown has given…

September 14, 2015 | The Center for Responsive Politics is pleased to welcome three new members to its Board of Directors. Jennifer N. Victor is associate professor of political science at George Mason University’s School of Policy, Government and International Affairs, where she has been on the faculty since 2012; she is also director of the school’s undergraduate programs.…

September 11, 2015 | You could say Hillary Clinton is a teacher’s pet. As students return to class from summer break, their teachers, professors and school administrators are following a historical pattern: Those in education tend to give more to Democrats than Republicans. Individuals in the field donated $64.5 million during the last presidential election cycle, and more than…

August 1, 2015 | The 2016 presidential race may be a whole new ball game in terms of fundraising, but most of the players’ names are awfully familiar — even if their faces are a bit more lined. Very few of the top donors to the super PACs backing one of the many GOP White House hopefuls or handful…

June 22, 2015 | The Green Party nominee in 2012, Jill Stein, is officially seeking another White House bid after asserting that the U.S. is ready to move away from a two-party system. Undaunted by receiving just .36 percent of the vote in the 2012 presidential election – which admittedly made her the most successful general election female presidential…

May 21, 2015 | As pressure increases for 2016 presidential contender Hillary Clinton to say where she stands on the pending Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, her ties to avid TPP supporters won’t escape notice. One glaring example: A linked trifecta consisting of the TPP, the mega-investment firm Morgan Stanley, and the Clinton family that involves campaign contributions, former…

April 6, 2015 | California isn’t the only state facing acute water scarcity. As years of record drought have parched its land and crops, California’s efforts to get help from the federal government have been joined by Arizona, its nearly-as-thirsty neighbor to the east. The lobbying sandstorm the two have kicked up reflects their common interest in the Colorado…

March 30, 2015 | This story was cross-posted with the The Guardian. The dinner invitations that dropped into the inboxes of political donors last week proudly boasted a list of guests whose names have already become very familiar in the crowded race for the Republican presidential nomination. Jeb Bush, Scott Walker and Rick Santorum are among nine confirmed speakers…

March 23, 2015 | This story was cross-posted at The Daily Beast. It was a cold winter night in Washington, D.C., not long after President George W. Bush won a second term, and the mood at the upscale Italian restaurant was downright celebratory. The most prominent guest was Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, but his table also boasted a…

January 20, 2015 | The economy is growing steadily, unemployment is down, the stock market is soaring, gas prices are diving. Good luck getting a rise out of someone by mentioning the deficit at a Washington dinner party, something that would have been unimaginable in the not-so-distant past. There’s plenty of good news for President Obama to dwell on…

October 3, 2014 | They may be called super PACs, but they can’t be everywhere at once. It’s become fashionable for these committees, which can spend unlimited amounts on ads backing or attacking candidates anywhere in the country, to tout their allegiance to a state. But as often as not, an OpenSecrets Blog analysis found, they run mainly on out-of-state money. We tallied up…

July 28, 2014 | Bruce Rauner is a Chicago billionaire who has never held political office, yet this spring he mowed down a crowd of rivals and claimed the GOP nomination to be Illinois’ next governor. David Perdue is a wealthy former executive who also has never been elected to public office, yet he too knocked off a string…

June 17, 2014 | Since the beginning of the 2014 campaign cycle last year, 14 donors — running the gamut from a hedge fund manager to a gay rights activist to a little-known Salt Lake City venture capitalist — have given $100,000 or more to President Barack Obama’s avowedly un-campaign committee, Organizing for Action. Another 26 have ponied up…

June 5, 2014 | New York Sen. Charles E. Schumer has done his darned best to earn the title of “buzzkill“: He led the crackdown on Four Loko caffeine-laced malt beverages, declared war on the powdered liquor product Palcohol, and — this week — drove the summer boozy slushy fad called Phrosties to extinction. But meanwhile, he’s also received…

January 15, 2014 | In anticipation of the Supreme Court's ruling in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, the Center for Responsive Politics and the Sunlight Foundation have teamed up to look at the deep-pocketed donors who could give even more if the justices strike down another limit on the amount of money in U.S. politics.

November 5, 2013 | From 2008 to 2011, a mysterious dark money group called Wellspring distributed more than $17 million to front-line political groups across the country. An OpenSecrets.org and National Public Radio investigation into the group details who is organizing this group and how far and wide the group's money has been sent.

October 28, 2013 | Attention West Coast fans! The Center for Responsive Politics and the UC-Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism will host a two-day training for working reporters and journalism students Nov. 1 - 2 at the UC-Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.

August 29, 2013 | President Obama might hope that his new education initiative doesn't rile too many in academia: By reputation, college professors and staff members are solid Democrats, and a deeper look at their campaign contributions by the Center for Responsive Politics mostly backs that up -- though certain types of schools tend to skew more left than others.

July 11, 2013 | Animal welfare groups recently won a major victory when the head of the National Institutes of Health announced the agency would significantly curtail its use of great apes in scientific research. NIH's action follows the failure of congressional legislation in a climate where animal rights groups could never keep up with groups -- including drugmakers -- that opposed the bill, particularly when it came to spending on lobbying and campaign contributions.

July 1, 2013 | Lawmakers failed to reach a deal to prevent federally subsidized Stafford loan interest rates from doubling today, making students the latest casualty of the impasse gripping Congress and likely benefiting private lenders such as Sallie Mae.

June 5, 2013 | Obama's speech in the Rose Garden this week to announce three judicial nominees pressured lawmakers to put partisanship aside to fill the vacancies in the court. None of the three appear to have particularly controversial pasts, but all are solidly Democratic donors.

June 5, 2013 | Many of the top 10 university recipients of government R&D grants also were top spenders on lobbying compared with other schools -- and also were big contributors to federal candidates, parties and outside groups in the 2012 campaign cycle, OpenSecrets.org data shows.

May 29, 2013 | A feeling of déjà vu permeates the current student loan debate. Just last June, President Barack Obama and Congress agreed on holding the interest rate for unsubsidized Stafford loans at 3.4 percent. However, that agreement expires on July 1.
Our data shows that the education industry has invested heavily in members of the House and Senate who currently are working on bills to address the issue.

February 7, 2013 | When lawmakers debate whether to extend low rates on subsidized student loans later this year, many of them will be feeling firsthand the pain of student loan debt: Five senators and 41 members of the House report that their liabilities include money still owed on loans to finance their own education or that of their children.

February 6, 2013 | Rep. Tammy Duckworth was mentioned in the news more in her first month of office than any other House freshman, according to a University of Minnesota study. She also spent more in her campaign than her colleagues in the class of '12.

February 4, 2013 | The house may have gone dark at the Super Bowl last night, but Entergy has kept the lights on in its lobbying shop. Also, super PACs take aim in Democratic and Republican primaries, and how much is that ambassadorship in the window?

January 30, 2013 | Public employee unions continue growing, and so (for the most part) does the amount they spend to lobby Washington. Also, one university professor has started two pro-Hillary super PACs.

December 12, 2012 | With the final fundraising numbers filed, Barack Obama's leading contributing industry was lawyers and law firms with $27 million, while Wall Street was Mitt Romney's, giving him $21 million.

October 31, 2012 | Earlier this year, the Center for Responsive Politics estimated that the 2012 election would cost $5.8 billion -- an estimate that already made it the most expensive in history -- but with less than a week to go before the election, CRP is revising the estimate upwards. According to CRP's new analysis of Federal Election Commission data, this election will likely cost $6 billion.

October 18, 2012 | Don't laugh, binders are big business and helped make Romney the wealthy man he is today, while another wealthy man, Mike Bloomberg dives into the world of super PACs head first, and the Ivy League education of two New York Senate candidates.

October 11, 2012 | The Army says it doesn't need any more M-1 Abrams tanks, but it may get them anyway. The company that makes them just happens to be one of the largest contributors to campaigns nationwide.

October 8, 2012 | CRP's collaboration with the Investigative News Network, the National Institute for Money in State Politics and news outlets in seven states yields a close look at wealthy donors' wide-ranging giving.

September 27, 2012 | Next Thursday, Oct. 4, the Center for Responsive Politics will sponsor a webchat on the fallout from Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. A roundtable of experts will be on hand to discuss, among other things, how the 2010 decision has led to a surge in independent expenditures by unions and corporations, and the impact of new money sources on candidates, parties and the groups themselves.

August 2, 2012 | Dozens of candidates have more than $130 million invested in their own campaigns ahead of the November elections, in races ranging from the recent Texas primary runoff to a Hail Mary Senate campaign in Arizona.

June 19, 2012 | On Wednesday, the Center for Responsive Politics will host a conference at the National Press Club on the growing role of groups like these -- politically active non-profit organizations -- in elections.

June 18, 2012 | A joint investigation by the Center for Public Integrity and the Center for Responsive Politics has found that more than 100 nonprofits organized under section 501(c)(4) of the U.S. tax code spent roughly $95 million on political expenditures in the 2010 election compared with $65 million by super PACs.

May 15, 2012 | Ron Paul's announcement Monday effectively ending his presidential bid brought the end of a quiet campaign that nevertheless raised more money -- $36.7 million as of March 31-- than that of any Republican candidate other than Mitt Romney. And his donors had an identity all their own.

March 13, 2012 | Only the most ardent fan of the University of Colorado at Boulder would pick the 11th-seeded Buffaloes to win the NCAA men's basketball tourney, even though they have one of the nation's best rebounders in Andre Roberson.

January 27, 2012 | President Barack Obama's re-election campaign is refunding the donations of five registered federal lobbyists who gave to the committee last year, OpenSecrets Blog has learned. Some of these refunds were triggered after OpenSecrets Blog brought the contributions to the campaign's attention. The Obama campaign has pledged to refuse contributions from lobbyists, continuing a policy it set during the 2008 campaign.

August 17, 2011 | Many special interest groups have invested heavily in supercommittee members on both sides of the aisle, including the securities and investment firms, the real estate industry and health professionals, according to new research by the Center for Responsive Politics.

July 16, 2011 | During the first months of his re-election campaign, Obama raised about 47 percent of his total funds from small-dollar donors, according to a Center for Responsive Politics review of new paperwork filed Friday with the Federal Election Commission.

July 15, 2011 | After weeks of speculation, President Barack Obama's campaign is on track to setting presidential fund-raising records while many Republican candidates are suffering from debt, numerous competitors and a general lack of commitment from big-dollar donors.

July 12, 2011 | Cliff Asness, the founding and managing partner of hedge fund AQR Capital, and Rutgers University professor Susan Feinberg may have irreconcilable differences about a $350 bottle of wine at Washington D.C.'s Bistro Bis, but they once found common ground in the campaign of President Barack Obama. Furthermore, during the 2010 election cycle, Cliff and his wife Laurel Asness also donated $7,666 to the leadership PAC of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), with whom he was spotted sharing an expensive meal by Feinberg.

June 15, 2011 | On Tuesday, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a preliminary injunction in the campaign finance case Carey v. Federal Election Commission. The move opens the door for political action committees that are not connected to corporations, unions or trade associations to raise unlimited contributions, even if they directly donate money to candidates.

April 18, 2011 | Businesses hate taxes, which is why they love lobbying the federal government in a bid to keep them low, lower or less than that. And on this day -- Tax Day 2011 -- the Center for Responsive Politics pause a moment to reflect on the corporation, trade associations and special interest groups that lobbied most during 2010 on taxation issues.

April 4, 2011 | During the 2008 election, Barack Obama set fund-raising records and mobilized millions of individual donors. Obama was particularly successful in turning small-dollar donors into repeat givers, often via the Internet. His re-election campaign will be trying to emulate that success this go around.

December 3, 2010 | From January through September, 29 unique groups have lobbied on the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ban on openly gay service members, according to a Center for Responsive Politics review of federal lobbying reports explicitly mentioning the measure.

November 30, 2010 | The years leading up to the 2010 midterm election have been an important stretch for gay rights advocates, but you wouldn't necessarily know it by gauging the amount of money invested this cycle by gay and lesbian rights groups and their donors.

October 20, 2010 | In the run up to the 2010 midterm elections, Soros joins a handful of young, emerging political heavyweights, many of whom are related to other prolific political donors. And they're helping tip the scales toward Democrats in the competition for students' campaign cash, the Center's analysis indicates.

October 5, 2010 | Maybe these unlucky candidates face a well-funded incumbent, or run in a district that doesn't align with them ideologically. Or perhaps they are just too quirky for the ballot box. Whatever the reason, these candidates face a harsh political Darwinism -- they have been judged unelectable by their affiliated party, and are effectively left to fend for themselves, come November.

October 4, 2010 | Dollars spent on lobbying are set to increase over all other years if spending remains on its current course. And in context of 2010 congressional campaigns, the top lobbyist-funded House and Senate candidates have received more than $9 million to fuel their campaigns.

October 4, 2010 | Not all congressional districts are created equal when it comes to the amount of campaign contributions flowing to candidates. Sometimes, the discrepancy between an incumbent's war chest and that of a challenger is only thousands of dollars. Sometimes, it's millions. And in many congressional districts, incumbents are blowing their competition out of the water.

September 30, 2010 | This fall, Republicans need a net gain of 39 seats to win control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Some of the seats most likely to flip from the Democratic column to Republican control stem from the retirements of sitting Democratic incumbents.
And when it comes to competing for these open seats, Republicans own a financial advantage.

September 29, 2010 | Many candidates are hitting the campaign trail with a promise to end cozy relationships with special interests. Yet eager as they are to show some understanding of voters' concerns, the words of many incumbents are falling far short of the reality when it comes to their campaign accounts.

September 28, 2010 | Incumbency is a monumental obstacle to overcome for any political challenger. But 11 congressional challengers -- nine Republicans and two Democrats -- have managed to raise more money than their incumbent rivals, a Center for Responsive Politics analysis found.

September 22, 2010 | Geriatric medicine. Woodworking. Business. Psychology. Educators may have varied academic interests. But some of the most politically active of them share one thing in common: the habit of donating huge sums of money to federal candidates, a Center for Responsive Politics analysis of federal campaign records indicates.

September 14, 2010 | No fewer than 235 people that identified themselves on government documents as journalists, or as working for news organizations, have together donated more than $469,900 to federal political candidates, committees and parties during the 2010 election cycle, a Center for Responsive Politics analysis indicates. Aboute two-thirds of this sum has benefited Democrats.

August 3, 2010 | Thanks to her husband, billionaire industrialist Sidney Harman, Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) ranks as one of the richest members of Congress. Now, this powerful federal official can add another element to her acumen: wife of a media mogul.

July 23, 2010 | Incumbency is a monumental obstacle to overcome for any political challenger. But 10 congressional challengers have managed to raise more money -- an average of about $640,000 -- than their incumbent rivals, a Center for Responsive Politics analysis found.

July 14, 2010 | OMB HEAD SPINS OUT, NEW ONE SPINS IN: Jacob Lew, Obama's new pick to head the Office of Management and Budget, has more than 30 years of experience in Washington, spinning through the revolving door between the public and private sectors on multiple occasions.

June 29, 2010 | Although the clothing industry is pretty evenly divided overall, individual companies in the clothing manufacturing business tend to be notably partisan in their federal political donations, more so than almost any other industry.

June 28, 2010 | On the campaign trail, Republican Linda McMahon has proclaimed her freedom from special interests as she spends millions of her own dollars on the race. At the same time, she is opposed to legislation that supporters say would help other candidates be equally as liberated.

June 24, 2010 | The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that people who sign petitions to get initiatives and referenda on the ballot do not have the right to have their names shielded from public disclosure on an across-the-board basis, although it left the door open for more narrow challenges to disclosure on a case-by-case status.

June 23, 2010 | Hearings to set to begin Thursday in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, led by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), will shine more light on the ongoing squabble with the Department of Education over issues like incentive pay to recruiters and gainful employment measures. But Congress is just catching up to industry lobbyists on many of the issues.

June 10, 2010 | We here at the OpenSecrets Blog love puzzles. We're the kind who love pub trivia nights and live for the Washington Post's Scrabblegram. Are we proud of such rank dorkiness? You betcha. So, for this week's PolitiQuizz, we present you with a riddle. The goal? To use the clues to name a member of Congress.

April 22, 2010 | With some of the most expensive ticket prices in sports, a television audience that reaches millions, and -- yes -- its own reality television show, Ultimate Fighting Championship is captivating a new generation of sports fans. But in addition to waging battles atop caged, octagonal fighting canvasses, the wildly popular organization is also grappling with politicos on Capitol Hill.

April 8, 2010 | They aren't old enough to legally buy a beer. They can't vote or join the Army, and they can barely get a driver's license. But they are operating federally registered political action committees.

March 17, 2010 | The colleges and universities competing in the 2010 NCAA men's basketball tournament aren't simply hardwood powerhouses. Most are also significant players in the Washington, D.C., lobbying arena, according to a Center for Responsive Politics analysis of federal disclosure data.

October 15, 2009 | Politically connected ambassadors will soon represent the United States in Hungary and New Zealand. President Barack Obama has nominated philanthropist and real estate developer Eleni Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis to be ambassador to Hungary, while he nominated lawyer David Huebner to serve as the nation's top diplomat in New Zealand and Samoa. The Center for Responsive Politics has found that both Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis and Huebner have been active donors to federal politicians over the past 20 years.

September 15, 2009 | Of three ambassadorial nominees President Barack Obama announced late Friday night, two of them are major political fund-raisers, bundling more than half a million dollars for Obama's presidential campaign.

September 4, 2009 | Five of the nation's largest commercial banks stand to earn $35 billion on derivatives contracts this year -- but only if they get their way. To ensure that federal legislation won't kill their chance of collecting that cash, they're pouring money into campaign contributions and lobbying efforts.

July 7, 2009 | When Lois Capps graduated in 1959 from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Wash. with a bachelor's degree in nursing, she may not have had a political career in mind. During her 10 years of Congress, health care professionals--nurses in particular--have helped paid for her campaigns.

February 26, 2009 | President Obama's Tuesday address to Congress was entirely about jump-starting the economy, but he didn't even hint at a looming legislative battle between business and labor that both sides say could affect how quickly the country recovers. The two longtime adversaries may have different political strategies, but both sides have already spent plenty of cash trying to persuade lawmakers to side with them.

November 21, 2008 | The surge of activity in the nation's capital to revive the country's economy apparently hasn't caused a torrent of lobbying funds by the insurance companies, investment banks, mortgage companies and savings and loans central to the government's actions. While unions, companies and organizations across all industries increased their lobbying expenditures 2 percent in the 3rd Quarter of this year compared to the first three months of 2008, the finance, insurance and real estate sector apparently scaled back, decreasing its spending by 9 percent.

November 3, 2008 | Unlike members of Congress who have to wait at least a year (two for senators) after retiring from public service to become registered lobbyists, the influence peddlers themselves don't face a cooling-off period if they want to run for Congress. With the help of the Center for Responsive Politics, USA Today has identified 15 current and former lobbyists who hope to be elected to Congress tomorrow, and only six of them are incumbents.

October 23, 2008 | 2008 appears to be the first race in recent presidential elections where there is a clear partisan preference among campaign contributors who work in the federal government, as well as in state and municipal government--and even a distinct preference within major federal agencies, including the high-profile departments of Justice and Defense. Barack Obama has collected nearly three times more than John McCain from civil servants and public officials ranging from U.S. attorneys to small-town mayors.

October 9, 2008 | Not at all to the chagrin of oil and gas companies (and lawmakers who have received campaign donations from them), Wall Street is the new black for congressional candidates looking to link their opponents to an unpopular industry. As federal lawmakers have wrestled with an economic bailout plan worth $700 billion, candidates who have received contributions from the financial sector are on the defensive. Find out which candidates are filling their war chests with money from the finance sector in Capital Eye's final installment of Races to Watch.

October 6, 2008 | On its own, fundraising is a serious challenge; add the obstacle of navigating complicated campaign finance laws and it's enough to deter many from the political arena. However, individuals with deep pockets can finance their own campaigns, and unlike contributions raised from other people, there is no limit to how much personal money candidates can give themselves. Capital Eye takes a look at the top self-funders seeking congressional office this election cycle.

September 30, 2008 | Registered lobbyists aren't just getting the attention of lawmakers while on the job. Like any other member of the public, they, too, are able to contribute up to the maximum amount per election to candidates of their choice. The Center for Responsive Politics has identified the congressional races with candidates who are receiving the most money from registered lobbyists.

September 29, 2008 | Barack Obama defended his decision not to accept public financing by arguing that running a campaign for the White House based on small contributions accomplishes what the public financing system aims to do but falls short of doing: curb the influence of outside interest groups. In many congressional races, the issue of who's backing the candidate--wealthy donors or everyone else--is finding its way into debates over the best way to fix the economy and whether campaign contributions and lobbying by the financial sector had anything to do with today's economic crisis. Capital Eye takes a closer look at some of these races.

September 25, 2008 | Private interests and members of the public aren't the only ones betting their money on the congressional candidates they hope will win (or retain) congressional seats. Lawmakers in both parties have a vested interest in seeing their own candidates succeed this November, with Democrats wanting to strengthen their majority and Republicans hoping to minimize their losses. Here we look at some of the candidates getting the largest cash infusions from their own parties, indicating a close race.

September 24, 2008 | It's the presidential eclipse: Every four years, media coverage about all angles of the race for the White House (significant or not) overshadows all but a handful of too-close-to-call congressional races. Yet, in the midst of an economic meltdown, record gas prices and a five-year war, there's no question that citizens care about who represents them in Congress, not just who moves into 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. While other political analysts focus on the most competitive congressional races, Capital Eye will spend the next week profiling contests with an interesting fundraising angle--even those where the winner is pretty easy to predict.

August 26, 2008 | While school was out, college professors and other educators were putting money into Barack Obama's presidential campaign, according to a new analysis of the Democratic nominee's summer fundraising. Educators contributed at least $2.3 million to his campaign in June and July, surpassed only by lawyers, who make up Obama's top-giving industry since the campaign's start, and retirees.

August 14, 2008 | Democrat Barack Obama has received nearly six times as much money from troops deployed overseas at the time of their contributions than has Republican John McCain, and the fiercely anti-war Ron Paul, though he suspended his campaign for the Republican nomination months ago, has received more than four times McCain's haul.

August 13, 2008 | Here's further evidence that there's a political scientist for every topic under the sun: A professor at the University of California-San Diego has examined campaign finance reports and episodes of "The Colbert Report" on Comedy Central to conclude that Stephen Colbert -- he who briefly toyed with running a presidential campaign sponsored by Doritos -- can juice a political candidate's fundraising 40 percent by having them on his show.

August 7, 2008 | You can't turn your head without seeing plastic: computers, phones, bottles, furniture, clothing accessories. But plastic is made from oil--a fact most Americans aren't aware of--and rising oil prices have jacked up the price of plastic in the last few months. Up to eight percent of the country's oil goes into producing plastic, according to some estimates, and as Americans increasingly look for ways to reduce their environmental impact, plastics are beginning to be drawn into the energy debate.

July 17, 2008 | Like a gas tank hungry for cheap fuel, Americans are yearning for an energy policy from their next president. But various industries and interests, from oil companies to agriculture and environmental groups, also have a serious stake in the next president's energy policy, and are showing it with campaign contributions and lobbying efforts.

April 3, 2008 | Don't tell the Vegas oddsmakers, but it turns out that predicting NCAA basketball tournament matchups based on the schools' lobbying expenditures isn't such a wacky idea after all. After we posted a bracket last week that filled out the Sweet 16 games using lobbying records, the top-spending schools won 8 of 12.

March 13, 2008 | Newton's first law of motion (that an object in motion tends to stay in motion) is true in physics and also seems to apply to physicists running for Congress. Over the weekend, physicist and businessman Bill Foster, a Democrat, was unstoppable in Illinois's 14th Congressional District. Foster beat Republican Jim Oberweis in former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert's district, winning a seat that Republicans had held for decades.

February 22, 2007 | The earliest candidates for president would have a hard time imagining a $1 billion campaign. By Lindsay Renick Mayer February 22, 2007 | It’s a scene that George Washington couldn’t possibly have envisioned in 1789: Presidential candidates entering the race with millions of dollars in the bank, Hollywood parties bagging $1.3 million for a single…

December 5, 2006 | In 2008, presidential candidates will have to raise record sums, so talking now to donors—not just voters—is crucial. By Lindsay Renick Mayer December 05, 2006 | (Updated to incorporate 2004 inflation-adjusted grants and spending limits) As the 2006 midterm election moves from the headlines to the history books, the focus has already shifted to 2008…

November 28, 2006 | Led by House Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi, women make gains in Congress, but men still outpace female donors in campaign contributions. By Miranda Blue November 28, 2006 | When the 110th Congress starts work in January, it will include more women than ever before—in greater numbers, in more powerful positions, with many congresswomen propelled to office…

November 17, 2006 | The new majority leader was generous with contributions to fellow Democrats. By Center for Responsive Politics November 17, 2006 | In the contest to become House majority leader, John Murtha may have had the endorsement of Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi, but Steny Hoyer had a more powerful ally—money. Hoyer, the Maryland congressman who decisively won the…

November 3, 2006 | House and Senate candidates who didn’t even make it to Election Day spent almost $100 million raised from contributors and their own pockets. By Lindsay Renick Mayer and Miranda Blue November 03, 2006 | Every two years, candidates running for Congress plead with friends, family and people they’ve never met to dig deep into their…

October 23, 2006 | Without cash to spread their message, independent and third-party challengers once again struggle to compete against Democrats and Republicans. By Lindsay Renick Mayer October 23, 2006 | Three-term senator Joe Lieberman finds himself as a third-party candidate in Connecticut this year. He has raised at least $15 million. Todd Chretien is also an independent running…

September 13, 2006 | The advocacy groups that rose to prominence in 2004 have scaled back their federal activity this election. Instead, 527s are focusing on state issues and elections. Liberals have raised more money than conservatives. By Lindsay Renick Mayer September 13, 2006 | CLARIFICATION (9/27/06): The non-federal 527 activity mentioned in this story includes only the fundraising…

August 7, 2006 | As gas prices rise, Republicans are taking most of the heat for their industry ties, but contributions have flowed to Democrats as well. By Lindsay Renick Mayer August 07, 2006 | Political analysts may argue about how oil factored into America’s decision to invade Iraq, but there’s little debate about the oil and gas industry’s…

June 26, 2006 | State’s limits on contributions are too low, justices agree, and spending caps are unconstitutional. By Eric Warren June 26, 2006 | In a fractured decision, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down today a Vermont law that put the nation’s tightest restrictions on campaign contributions and spending. The 6-3 decision in Randall v. Sorrell was the…

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